The Daily Stoic - You Can Make This A Game...and Win

Episode Date: March 2, 2020

The Stoics said it over and over: the most important thing to remember about pain and suffering is that it is inevitable. It can’t be avoided, so don’t make it worse by fearing it, worrying about whether it will come, wondering how bad it will be. Seneca’s line was that we suffer more in imagination than in reality. The essential insight from Epictetus was: It’s not things that upset us, it’s our opinion about them. And Marcus Aurelius too: If you choose to feel like you’ve been harmed, you have been. At just eight years old, Verity Smith was told that, due to a rare genetic disorder, she would soon lose her eyesight. She didn’t have a choice. She would be blind. All that was left to her was how she would respond to this demand of fate. In our interview with Verity, we asked her to take us back to that diagnosis and how she came to terms, mentally and emotionally, with the painful realities of losing her vision. Her answer is extraordinary:I saw going blind as a challenge, a game...I understood that the darkness was coming and that it would steal the faces of those I loved and the views of the landscapes I lived in, but in my innocence, I set to work filling my memory with images that would never fade. It was a game against the clock. My challenge was to drink in every sight, to exercise every sense and to become good at being blind before the lights went out. With my bedroom curtains drawn and a blindfold on, I would rearrange my furniture in order to practice navigating through self-imposed blackouts. Being a practical child, I figured the best way to overcome my coming blindness was to learn how to get good at being blind…I began to understand the power of my thoughts—how if the sky was grey I could color it in blue in my mind’s eye, how I could paint the beautiful horizon upon the canvas of the dullest of views. The world became multi-dimensional. As my eyes went to sleep my other senses awoke.When adversity struck, Marcus liked to remind himself, “It’s unfortunate that this has happened. No. It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it...It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it.” Not everyone would choose to see something so unfair as a game, like Verity did. Not everyone could do that, as she did. So in that sense, it is fortunate that it happened to her. Certainly, what she managed to make of it is incredibly impressive and fortunate. Since being unable to compete in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, Verity has been training hard for the 2020 games in Tokyo. In 2017, she was ranked 12th in France at the Elite Able-Bodied level and has recently been selected for the French Para Dressage Team. Aside from her plans to bring home a gold medal in 2020, Verity also hopes to become the first equestrian disabled athlete to represent her country as a member of both the Paralympic and Olympic teams. She made her situation a game...and became world class at playing it. That’s what a Stoic does. That’s what you can do, whatever you’re going through today or in the future. You choose how you respond. You choose what you will make of this. You don’t have to suffer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. You can make this a game and win. The stoic said it over and over. The most important thing to remember about pain and suffering

is that it is inevitable. It can't be avoided, so don't make it worse by fearing it, worrying about whether it will come, wondering how bad it will be. Seneca's line was that we suffer more in imagination than in reality. The essential insight from Epic Titus was this, it's not things that upset us, it's our opinion about them. And Marcus, it really is too, if you choose to feel like you've been harmed, you have been. At just eight years old Verity Smith was told that due to a rare genetic disorder, she would soon lose her eyesight.

She didn't have a choice, she would be blind. All that was left to her was how she would respond to this demand of fate. In our interview with her, we asked her to take us back to that diagnosis and how she came to terms, mentally and emotionally, with the painful realities of losing her vision. Her answer is extraordinary. I saw going blind as a challenge, she said, a game. I understood that the darkness was coming and that it would steal the faces of those I loved and the views of the landscapes I lived in,

but in my innocence, I set to work, filling my memory with images that would never fade. It was a game against the clock. My challenge was to drink in every site, to exercise every sense and to become good at being blind before the lights went out. With my bedroom curtains drawn and a blindfold on I would rearrange my furniture in order to practice navigating through self-imposed

blackouts. Being a practical child I figured the best way to overcome my coming blindness was to learn how to get good at being blind. I began to understand the power of my thoughts. How if the sky was gray I could color it in blue in my mind's eye, how I could paint the beautiful horizon upon the canvas of the delusive views. The world became multi-dimensional as my eyes went to sleep, my other senses awoke. When adversity struck Marcus Aurelius life to remind himself, it's unfortunate that this thing has happened.

No, it's fortunate that this has happened and I've remained unharmed by it. It could have happened to anyone, but not everyone could have remained unharmed by it. Not everyone would choose to see something so unfair as a game, like Verity did. Not everyone could do that as she did. So in that sense, it is fortunate that it happened to her. Certainly what she managed to make of this is incredibly impressive and fortunate. Since being unable to compete in the 2012 and 2016

Olympic Games, Verity has been training hard for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. In 2017, she was ranked 12th in France at the elite able-bodied level, and has recently been selected for the French Para Dursage team. Aside from her plans to bring home a gold medal in 2020, Verity hopes also to become the first equestrian disabled athlete to represent her country as a member of both the Paralympic and Olympic teams. She made her situation a game and became world class at playing it. That's what Aesthoic does.

That's what you can do whatever you're going through today or in the future. You choose how you respond. You choose what you will make of this. You don't have to suffer. If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoke.com slash email. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily Stoke early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free with

Add free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.